Hollywood's Second World War

Hollywood's Second World War

90 mins | Documentary, TV Movie | Sept. 8, 2019

For the USA, World War 2 was an all-out war - to mobilize the masses, the US government launched a huge propaganda campaign and cinema, the medium of the masses, was quite simply their most important weapon. Government authorities monitored the production of feature films and the military itself produced documentaries aimed at rallying the American people to support the troops. This film tells the story of four Hollywood directors of European origin, who returned to the "Old World" during the Second World War to make propaganda documentaries for the US Army at the front: William Wyler from Alsace, Frank Capra from Italy, Anatole Litvak from Ukraine and - in post-war Germany - Billy Wilder from Austria.

Hollywood's Second World War

90 mins | Documentary, TV Movie | Sept. 8, 2019

Hollywood's Second World War
For the USA, World War 2 was an all-out war - to mobilize the masses, the US government launched a huge propaganda campaign and cinema, the medium of the masses, was quite simply their most important weapon. Government authorities monitored the production of feature films and the military itself produced documentaries aimed at rallying the American people to support the troops. This film tells the story of four Hollywood directors of European origin, who returned to the "Old World" during the Second World War to make propaganda documentaries for the US Army at the front: William Wyler from Alsace, Frank Capra from Italy, Anatole Litvak from Ukraine and - in post-war Germany - Billy Wilder from Austria.
Producers ARTE, Radio Bremen, Florianfilm, Global Screen
Original title Hollywoods Zweiter Weltkrieg
Directors Jascha Hannover
Writers Jascha Hannover

Cast

George Stevens Jr.

as Himself

Catherine Wyler

as Herself

Anatole Litvak

as Self (archive footage)

William Wyler

as Self (archive footage)

Frank Capra

as Self (archive footage)

Billy Wilder

as Self (archive footage)

George Stevens

as Self (archive footage)

Charlie Chaplin

as Adenoid Hynkel (archive footage)